Terrabyte Farm

Today was very exciting.  We spent the afternoon at a neighboring farm watching our friends flock of sheep get shorn.  If you have never seen it done by a professional shearer, you should really try it some time.  It is hypnotizing.  When done properly, the fleece comes off as one big piece.  The sheep are pretty docile and calm while getting their trim.  Also, unlike other farm animals that can smell kind of funky, sheep have a lovely smell.  The most exciting part was that we brought home two of the sheep, year-old ewes called Clementine and Clarabelle.  They are Leicester Longwools, a breed listed as “Critical” by the American Livestock Breed Conservancy.  This means that in the US, they are highly endangered.  We will be starting a breeding program here at our farm and hope to start increasing their numbers slowly but surely.  They are an amazing triple-purpose sheep good for milk, meat, and wool.  We plan to breed them this fall and by this time next year, our flock should be twice to three-times the size it is now (sheep frequently have twins or triplets).  We drove them home in the back of the Blazer, each sheep is about as big as a large dog, weighing maybe 75-100 pounds.  We settled them in to the barn where they will stay for the next week or so.  On Friday Mike drives to Vermont to get our two pregnant Dexter cows, then we will be set for animals, at least for a little while.